3 Suburbs Admit To Probes Of Hiring

Officials in three western suburbs said Thursday that they are among 16 Illinois towns under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for alleged racially discriminatory hiring practices.

Leaders in at least three other suburbs acknowledged that federal officials had made recent inquiries about their hiring practices, but added that Justice Department lawyers had neither threatened litigation nor accused the towns of violating federal civil rights laws.

At issue are so-called durational residency requirements, village laws that require prospective employees to live in the town before they can apply for a municipal job there.

In July and August, Assistant U.S. Atty. Gen. William Bradford Reynolds announced that 16 suburbs were under investigation for violating the federal Civil Rights Act for enforcing such laws.

Officials of River Grove, Elmwood Park and Melrose Park said the towns were under investigation.

River Grove President Thomas Tarpey said Thursday that the suburb will this month change its law requiring Police Department applicants to be residents.

``I`m not going to fight the Justice Department,`` Tarpey said.

It ``isn`t worth getting involved in litigation in terms of the cost,``

said the town`s attorney, Harry Smith Jr.

Elmwood Park Village Atty. Michael Durkin and Melrose Park Village Atty. George Guerine said those towns aren`t planning to rescind their laws, despite threats of a Justice Department lawsuit.

``My opinion is that the Justice Department is operating on a theory that has not been upheld in any court,`` Durkin said. ``Until you get that ruling, I assume we are within the legal requirements.`` In Elmwood Park, Police and Fire Department applicants must live in the village three years before applying.

Guerine told the Justice Department that the village would go to court over its law requiring prospective police and firefighters to live in the town for five years before seeking a job.

Guerine said the village received a letter from the Justice Department that charged the town ``may be engaged in employment practices which constitute prima facie interference against blacks.``

Officials in Oak Lawn, Berwyn and Riverdale also have had Justice Department inquiries about their residency laws. Riverdale also is considering changing its law, said Village Atty. Thomas Bobak.

John Wilson, a spokesman for Reynolds, refused Thursday to identify the towns being investigated.

The federal investigation stems from a 2-year-old discrimination suit filed by the Justice Department against Cicero.

That pending lawsuit charges the town of 62,000 with ``purposeful exclusion`` of blacks from housing and jobs as a result of its residency law, which requires municipal job applicants to be residents for one to three years.

The suit was the first time the Justice Department raised the question of whether such durational residency laws violate the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Courts previously have upheld the right of municipalities to impose residency laws, but have not addressed the civil rights issues.

Courts previously have upheld the right of municipalities to impose residency laws.

While critics charge that the towns imposed the laws to prevent blacks from moving into the suburbs, town officials say the laws help improve the delivery of emergency services and enhance performance because employees have a greater knowledge of the towns.

The Justice Department lost its first attempt to prohibit the enforcement of a residency law. On July 5, U.S. District Judge Thomas McMillen rejected a government request that Cicero be prevented from enforcing its law.